Chapter 30

After walking some twenty Minutes, you and your Knights came upon a curious Sight, and you can't help but wonder why the Gods couldn't wait with their plotting, and interfering until after you had the chance to properly clean yourself. Before you stood something that you decide to simply call unique for now, the Creature before you was a kindred Spirit of a Sort, a small Water-Elemental that was flowing out from a number of small Chests filled with Gold.

There were a total of three Chests lying open in front of you, all in all around nine-thousand Gold Coins of different making, as far as you could see, you would guess that just about everyone that traveled down this Road before you would be outraged. But you're more annoyed with the Gift, for the Gold wasn't normal, and as such of little use, no, the Gold in these Chests was bound to the Sea, it was what allowed the little Elemental to form and actually exist in this World.

You disliked the Being in front of you before it could even fully form, yet without being able to find much of a reason for these Feelings you decide to stay your Hand, you instead thought about its Existence. Who created the Elemental was quite clear, as was what it could do, as it was rather self-explanatory, but what the salty God wanted from you is once more beyond you. As was why a God of all Beings would create and send an Elemental to work with another one, especially seeing as both of you seem to share a mutual if silent dislike for one another already.

You waited a few Minutes longer, thinking that perhaps the little Elemental would provide a bit of Knowledge, but it didn't seem like it had any such Plans, the thing didn't speak nor communicate, didn't even give it a try. And that won't do, for you won't take a Spirit with unclear Intent into the Rock, your Home, neither now nor in the future, so you get rid of the little Eyesore. It makes a pitiful Attempt to kill you in turn once it finally understood your Intentions, but the Ice Spikes just shatter without effect, while your own Strategy of turning the Ground into Magma to swallow it whole, was met with success.

Killed off by a seven Year old Girl after being born only a few Minutes prior, what an entertaining Fate for a normally immortal Being, you would be quite happy about your kill, if only your Knights had proven resistant to Magical Attacks as well. But your Luck while good, wasn't quite the stuff of Legends, thus you find your Knight dead in the Snow, logically speaking it was to be expected, seeing as Humans aren't really made to withstand Magic, but you still find yourself in a small amount of Pain over the loss.

How could you have known that the God of the Ironborn would be this inept, having Elementals of different Elements meet without actually revealing his reasoning, did he truly expect you to take a Gods be damned Water-Elemental back Home? Is stuff like this what the Gods of this World see as a reasonable Reward, or was he simply enraged over your Kraken not fully taking apart the Pride of the Ironborn? You can't make Sense of why he decided to send a single Brain-dead Elemental, neither as a Reward nor as a Punishment, so you decide to ignore the matter for now, and focus on getting back to the Rock instead.

Your Annoyance and Pain soon began to fade a little, and when you reached the Gates to the Rock you felt fine again, though you had little in the way of Patience left when some of the Guards didn't recognize you. Seeing as your Father would have little in the way of trouble when it came to replacing some Guards, your strained Mind found getting rid of the six Guards standing between you and your Home an outright awesome Idea, thus said Guards choked to death on seemingly nothing.

And after a proper Knight came out of the warmth of the Castle you could finally leave the cursed Snow behind you, at least for Today you had more than enough Water around you, or well, that will be true after your Bath. Screw the Water-Elemental, screw the Faith of the Ironborn, and screw their God twice for good Measure, if what your Parents told you was true, having that Encounter just a Month or two later could have given you serious problems had you gone through with sating your Curiosity, and becoming closer to your Knights in the Process.

Honestly, you know that talking to you in your Dreams wouldn't work, and you understand that if the Gods spoke or wrote something it would be in a Language no one could understand, but a bit of effort isn't too much to ask of them, now is it? All you wanted to do was deal with the Ironborn, nothing would have required the death of your Men, and truly, what God could possibly think that you of all People would let a Water-Elemental remain alive in the Heart of your Family's Realm.

Water is more important than Gold and Food combined, and risking anything connected to its continued Supply would be risky in the extreme, and you wouldn't take such a Risk with a Being exuding nothing but Hostility. Death of thirst isn't how a Human should die, it's like dying from falling down the steps, thinking about the Topic you can't help but wonder if your Plans in the Capital are still going as smoothly as they were when you left, despite your personal setbacks the King should have it worse.

House Lannister is growing stronger by the Second, the Iron Islands are by now surely ripping each other apart, and the King's madness will grow proportionally with these problems. You would pity the Prince, if it wasn't his Bloodline that left the Realm as it is, a pitiful Realm that was never meant to be united as a single Nation, a Fact that's now clear as Day when one considers that even your Father couldn't make the Realm truly prosper. Always relying on his own Gold and Might to keep the problems of the Seven Kingdoms at Bay, and even so just barely avoiding the Stagnation of the Realm, which just won't be good enough for the future you envision.